‘Big Brother’ episode 37 recap: Who was last houseguest evicted before next week’s Season 19 finale? [UPDATING LIVE]

Only three houseguests remain after juror number eight was sent packing on “Big Brother” Thursday night. Paul Abrahamian continued his dominance over the Season 19 cast by winning Head of Household on Wednesday’s episode, securing his spot in the finale. That left him wondering which of his housemates would be the easiest to defeat when it comes time to plead their case to the jury for the $500,000 grand prize. So who did Paul nominate for eviction? Who won the season’s last Power of Veto? And did Christmas Abbott, Josh Martinez or Kevin Schlehuber become the last evicted houseguest before next week’s finale?

Below, check out our minute-by-minute “Big Brother” recap of Season 19, Episode 37 and then sound off in the comments section about the night’s most shocking moments. Keep refreshing/reloading this page as we’ll be updating live.

9:00 p.m. – “Previously, on ‘Big Brother’!” Alex Ow was ousted during a special Wednesday night eviction, setting up the final four and the most important HOH competition of the season. As the outgoing HOH, Josh was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch Paul wipe the floor with Christmas and Kevin, easily claiming the HOH victory before forcing out awkward tears of joy. Paul now holds the power to influence who joins him at the finale, where just one more houseguest will be evicted moments before the jury votes for the Season 19 winner.

9:10 p.m. – At the nomination ceremony, Paul put Josh and Kevin on the block. The importance of this week lies in the veto ceremony, so this was just a formality. Kevin is Paul’s target, but he won’t be casting the final vote, so there will be no blood on his hands. Kevin thinks Paul is his right-hand man and, like everyone else, has no idea Paul is ready to end his game.

9:18 p.m. – Time for an always interesting glimpse into the jury house! Matt Clines enters the house with a pretty cool reception from those inside. They all thought Matt was pretty foolish for thinking the house was going to backdoor Kevin instead of an actual competitive threat. Jason Dent was next to arrive, who was still confused about who was responsible for his eviction. Cody Nickson’s head looked like it was about to spin as he watched Christmas win the track meet-themed veto competition. Once again, eyes rolled when Jason explained he thought the plan was to backdoor Kevin. Elena Davies was flabbergasted when Jason admitted he thought he would win the vote over Kevin unanimously. Apparently these houseguests had to be removed from the game to understand that made no sense at all.

9:25 p.m. – Raven Walton walked into the house to a kiss from her showmance partner Matt. She blamed Christmas and Josh for her eviction. No hard feelings toward Paul. Jason was nearly in tears when Raven explained to him that Alex was completely blindsided by his eviction. Jason was convinced that she was so smart that she must have been involved and was crushed to learn how much he upset her by leaving the house without giving her a hug.

An argument broke out when Raven said she wanted to see Paul go to the end because they had an alliance. Once everyone else said they also had an alliance with Paul, Raven insisted that the alliance between herself, Paul and Matt was the only one that was real. Raven declared herself the puppet master of the house and Elena laughed hysterically at her delusion.

9:32 p.m. – Alex was the last to arrive and show everyone her eviction tape. Alex told the others that Paul informed her that if he took her to the end of the game he would lose the jury votes. Jason responded, “We’ll show you the jury votes, pal.” Jason told everyone else that they can’t possibly vote for Paul to win. But Alex and Raven agreed that it was part of the game. Jason then switched gears and informed Alex that Matt and Raven thought they were puppet masters. He then said the jury house would have been more fun without them. Raven lost her temper and started screaming. Mark Jansen chimed in and said he’s never heard of someone claiming to be a puppet master after winning absolutely nothing. Raven then asked Mark what he won and he rattled off four competitions. Apparently she forgot about that. Nobody can believe that Raven thinks she played a great game. Raven claimed she was helping Paul pull springs, to which everyone else replied, “so were we.” Cody got the last word by saying, “I wasn’t.”

9:40 p.m. – In the final veto competition, houseguests had to remember specific dates that events happened inside the house. Kevin was eliminated early and was concerned about Josh winning the veto. Who wants to evict someone named Christmas? Kevin said he should have changed his name to Thanksgiving. In a surprise to no one, Paul won the Power of Veto and has vowed not to use it.

Paul insists to Kevin that they are going to the final three with Christmas. With Christmas as the only vote during this eviction, Kevin will have no idea Paul is lying and he will have no blood on his hands. Kevin is doing his best to convince Paul that if he goes to the end with Christmas, he will lose half the jury votes to her. Determined not to make the same mistake he did last year by bringing the wrong person to the end, Paul entertains the idea of keeping Kevin.

9:52 p.m. – Time for the live veto meeting and eviction! After a pair of forgettable speeches from Josh and Kevin, Paul decided not to use the Power of Veto! Josh and Kevin then both addressed Christmas before she cast the sole vote to evict. Kevin commented that he’s been on the block so much he felt like one of the New Kids. Wearing a tutu and a boot cast, Christmas stood in front of the nominees and voted to evict Kevin.

9:56 p.m. – Kevin walked out to a thunderous applause which showed he could be a front-runner for America’s Favorite Player. He admitted that he was most loyal to Paul throughout the summer. No surprise there. In his goodbye video, Paul lied and said Christmas went rogue and voted him out of the house. Josh told him the truth in his goodbye message, admitting Kevin was their last target. Kevin had no hard feelings.

9:59 p.m. – Paul, Christmas and Josh are headed to finale night! But first, they must face off in the two-part HOH competition that will give one of them the power to control their own destiny and choose who sits next to them in front of the jury.

The final HOH competition will begin during a special Friday night episode of “Big Brother” on CBS. Then, the two hour finale will air Wednesday, September 20.

Gold Derby readers just like YOU often turn out to be our smartest prognosticators, so it’s important that you give us your predictions. You can continue to update and change your forecasts throughout the week, just click “Save” when you’ve settled on your choices. You’ll compete to win bragging rights and a $100 Amazon gift certificate. Be sure to read our contest rules and sound off on the season of “Big Brother” in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.